A major project that has been a longtime goal of the city of Midlothian celebrated a milestone moment on Tuesday morning with the topping-off of a long-awaited new facility.
Midlothian City Council members, appointed officials, first responders, and community leaders gathered to sign the pinnacle structural steel beam that will become a permanent fixture of the city’s new Public Safety and Municipal Court facility.
Approved by voters in the 2021 bond election, the 77,000-square-foot facility will be the combined home of city police and fire administrations, as well as the Midlothian Police Department, city Emergency Management Services, and the city’s Municipal Court.
Mayor Justin Coffman called the facility “a legacy of our community” that will serve Midlothian “for the next 50-plus years and serve the brightest and best men and women the city of Midlothian has to offer.”
Coffman added that he is excited that the building is placed where it is, at the Ninth Street exit off of U.S. Highway 67 next to the existing MPD headquarters.
“As people drive south from Dallas, the first thing they’ll recognize in the city of Midlothian is that we are a safe city, as our police station is right there at our gateway,” Coffman said.
The mayor added that the new facility bears witness to the city’s standing as one of the 50 safest cities in Texas as well as the fire department’s recent attainment of the highest insurance fire rating, which impacts home insurance policies greatly.
The new facility is set to come online in the spring of 2025.
The new public safety facility was only one of four propositions approved in May 2021 by city voters. The first, a new City Hall and Library, will open in November. Two other propositions, a city recreation center and city street and road improvements, were also approved and are awaiting action.
Midlothian Chief of Police Carl D. Smith said he hoped the new public safety facility would serve as a symbol of trust with the community for years to come. Smith said the new headquarters has been designed to withstand significant weather events and to aid in evidence collection and processing.
“It will be not only the site of official law enforcement services, but it will host activities such as our Citizens Police Academy, advanced training and emergency management,” Smith said.
Midlothian fire chief Dale McCaskill lauded the facility as an opportunity to provide more efficient services for the city.
“We value our partnership with our police officers and emergency management department,” McCaskill said. “We’re looking forward to the new facilities that we have in store for us.
“Having fire administration located in this building will give us direct access to our emergency operations center, which will be more effective in high-stress situations and allow us to respond to our community’s needs in a better way.”
